Clipper Ventures plc, the ocean racing and marine events company founded by Chairman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1995, today announces that agreement-in-principle has been reached with Newport, Rhode Island, to host the start and finish of the 2002 ‘Around Alone’ race for lone sailors.
The value of the deal to Clipper Ventures is likely to be in excess of US$1million.
(Ownership of Around Alone, a 28,800-mile solo circumnavigation sailing race, was acquired by Clipper Ventures in April 2001. Held every four years, the 2002 event will be the sixth since the race’s inception and the first one under Clipper Ventures ownership and management.)
The agreement is multi-layered and involves a signing-on fee together with a series of milestone payments. In addition, Clipper Ventures and Newport will enter into three profit-sharing deals relating to local merchandising, local sponsorship, and a waterfront festival timed to coincide with the September starting date. Finally, Newport, Rhode Island, will be providing Clipper Ventures with extensive goods and services including moorings, race offices, media facilities.
The Newport, Rhode Island, agreement represents the biggest race-hosting deal ever negotiated by Clipper Ventures and indicates how valuable an addition Around Alone is to the company’s portfolio. The value placed on the Newport deal is roughly in accordance with the US$1.3 million budget of 1998 Around Alone host Charleston.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston comments: ‘Part of our strategy for Clipper Ventures is to broaden our portfolio of marine races & events. After our signature event, The Clipper Race, Around Alone represents our second major offering and means we now control two out of the world’s five circumnavigation races. The Newport agreement has given our staff and board a tremendous boost and demonstrates that our strategy is sound.’
Considerable sentiment is attached to the location of the 2002 event as Around Alone was actually founded in Newport in 1982. It has been run once every four years ever since. According to Sir Robin: ‘We are delighted to take this global event home on its 20th anniversary. It has matured greatly since its inception and it will be a pleasure to share it with our long-time friends and supporters at Newport.’
The deadline for entries has been set at March 2002. Over 20 distinguished, lone sailors from 12 countries have already registered. From the Newport start-line they will race across the Atlantic and stop over on the English south coast. They will then proceed to Cape Town, South Africa; New Zealand, and Salvador, Brazil. Competitors are expected back in Newport in spring 2003.
Clipper Ventures aims to make Around Alone the number one lone sailing event worldwide. To this end it has adopted the rules developed by the competitor-led IMOCA Open 60 Class Association. It is also one of the reasons for adding the UK as a stopover as media interest here will be significantly enhanced.
Around Alone typically generates media coverage in at least 100 countries worldwide. The official website has attracted as many as one million visits per day.
For further information please contact:
Loretta Spridgeon / Sue Warden-Owen
MHL Press and Publicity
Tel: 01489 575227
Fax: 01489 577766
Mob: 07773 818586 / 07770 596111
E-mail: suewo@dial.pipex.com
Web: www.clipper-ventures.com